Dear Durham Democratic Women and Friends:Inspite of the threat from Isaac, the Republicans are getting a lot of free air time this week with their convention. We need to do everything we can to get our message out.

We have many stories to tell about why voting Democratic and voting for four more years for Barack Obama is the best strategy for keeping and strengthening a country that works for all of us.

There's a story to tell about how the President has the best plan for getting people back to work and making investments that strengthen our economy, like high quality education so that our children can compete for jobs of the future. Romney/Ryan is depending on trickle down strategies to create jobs -- as if cutting taxes for the rich would produce more jobs. We know from the Bush years it doesn't work. All it does is balloon the deficit.

There's a story to tell about why raising taxes for the top 2% is a better, fairer way to reduce the deficit than cutting money from vital community programs we need to succeed -- like schools, community colleges, and universities.

There's a story to tell about how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will protect all of us from predatory insurance companies that are more interested in profit than in our health care, that will lower health care costs by reforming the health care system not by cutting our benefits, and that will not only preserve Medicare for all of us but ensure that it is stronger.

And there's a story to tell about how dangerous Romney and Ryan are to women's hard won rights to make our own reproductive decisions without interference from the government, and how they have opposed the Democrats efforts to ensure equal pay for equal work and to protect women from domestic violence.

So please come out and work with us -- at least one evening a week, at least one morning or afternoon a weekend. We need to do everything we can to convince voters of the most important story of all: every vote counts this year.

We have lots of opportunities for you to work with the campaign:

Join us this Thursday night, August 30th, at Colony Hill Clubhouse, 3060 Colony Road, 27705, for phone banking and letter-writing from 6:30-8:30. We are making outreach calls to undecided voters and writing letters to infrequent voters. Every call we make, every letter we write can help change someone's mind and bring them out to the polls to vote for four more years of progress.

In honor of the President's Acceptance Speech, come register voters at Duke Hospital on Sept 6 and September 27.We still need folks both days from 9:00 until 11:00 AM. If you can help out one of these shifts please contact Bercedis at bercedis.peterson@duke.edu

Early vote is just 6 weeks now. That's all the time we have to register new voters. Please come out for a few hours this week.Show up any day at the Durham OFA Field Office in Heritage Square Shopping Plaza. They are open from 10 AM - 9 PM every day and will give you voter registration materials and suggestions for where to go to register voters.For voter registration activities in your own neighborhood check out https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple?source=primary-nav

Join our Senior Outreach TeamMedicare is going to be a big issue in this campaign and we want to make sure that seniors are not misled this year, like they were in 2010, when Republicans raised fears of 'death panels' and 'government control of Medicare.' Durham Democratic Women is organizing an outreach campaign to senior centers across Durham to make sure that everyone is registered to vote, knows how to apply for an absentee ballot, and understands the issues. To participate contact Helen Compton at helen.compton@gmail.com

There's lots more you can to do, too, to help us win...

Have a Watch Party Tuesday night, September 4, to watch Michelle Obama give her speech at the convention.Bring some women friends and coworkers and neighbors together to get inspired together. And then invite them out another night to reach out to other women -- phone banking or letter writing. Email Sondra@ sondragstein@gmail.com and I'll help you get it organized.

Help raise money to support Voter Outreach in North CarolinaHold your own fundraising event or come to the Casbah on September 9th!Contact Diane Robertson at dianerobertson9@gmail.com to brainstorm ideas.

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